‘It just all trickles down’: Lincoln summer learning program braces for federal cuts

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The U.S. Education Department is ending a COVID-era program that helped after-school and summer programs.

That cut, and others, comes amid the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-trimming efforts.

Some Lincoln nonprofits said they will be impacted.

The executive director of Bright Lights Summer Learning Adventures, Renee Ford, told Channel 8 there is a domino effect to losing funding.

“We use those funds to pay our teachers, we pay for the locations we rent, all the supplies,” she said. “And the less money we have, the fewer camps we’re able to run, the fewer opportunities there are for the students. Then we can’t fund scholarships. It just all trickles down.”

She said this ultimately hurts the students and their families the most.

“Having that outside-of-the-classroom learning is important,” she said. “You’re also building social skills, you’re building confidence, you’re building collaboration. I think having those opportunities helps students become better community members.”

And of the funding options still available, because more nonprofits will be competing for them now, they’ll be left with less money.

The public policy manager for the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands, Hannah Young, said this is “just the beginning” a very unpredictable and worrying time.

“Philanthropy and individual donors would have to step in,” she said. “But that only goes so far. There’s not enough philanthropy in the world or Nebraska to cover all of these programs doing great things so I would expect to see some mergers and acquisitions and people shutting their doors.”